Choosing the Right Mailing List and Offer Is Key in Direct Mail

Case Study

Challenge

An established outdoor furniture store was experiencing slow sales. They had not done any marketing recently and did not believe in holding reduced-priced “sales” events. Due to their outstanding reputation they had been solely relying on walk-ins and referrals. They were skeptical about direct mail but knew they needed to do something to keep their doors open.

Solution

We helped the storeowners by creating a highly attractive postcard and purchasing a mailing list. Initially this customer thought their target customer was in a high household income bracket and they did not want to offer a “sale” but instead position themselves as holding an “event.” At our recommendation, they agreed to lower their household income range to expand the mailing list from an original count of just 5,500 to over 10,000. In addition, after testing with the first mailing and then mailing again to their existing account list we helped the owners realise that their customers were not in the high-income brackets they had thought. They then agreed to change their offer to a discounted offer and even allowed us to create a store window banner that said “ Sale,” visible from the busy street where they were located.

Results

The customer was pleased with the results of the second mailing and learned a powerful lesson: that they did not even know whom their customer was. Mistakenly, they were focusing their marketing efforts on their favorite customers, not the average buyers who helped make them successful. Thanks to PIP’s insights into their mailing lists, they are continuing to work with us on future campaigns targeting select prospects.